LISBON -- Andre Agassi relied on his game and some help from the others to reach the semifinals of the Masters Cup. Marat Safin didn’t even have to play to advance.
Agassi beat Yevgeniy Kafelnikov 6-1, 6-4 in an impressive performance. And when Gustavo Kuerten defeated Magnus Norman 7-5, 6-3 in the last match Thursday, the mathematics of the round-robin format gave Agassi a place in the semifinals.
Safin was assured of a place in the last four when Alex Corretja beat Lleyton Hewitt 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
On Friday, Safin plays Pete Sampras. If the 20-year-old Russian wins, he will also make sure of becoming the youngest player ever to finish the year as No. 1.
Sampras has to beat Safin to advance to the semifinals of the season-ending tournament, which the American has won five times.
In case of Safin’s victory, Kuerten, his only challenger, will not be able to collect enough points to dislodge the Russian from the No. 1 spot.
The elite tournament brings together the top eight players in the world, who are divided into two groups. The top two from each group advance.
Kuerten plays Kafelnikov on Friday for a place in the semifinals. The winner of that match will finish behind Agassi in the Green Group. Both are 1-1.
If Sampras (1-1) loses to Safin (2-0), Hewitt will join Safin in advancing from the Red Group because he beat Sampras in their group match.
Corretja, a Spaniard who won this tournament in 1998, was ousted despite his victory. Hewitt, the 19-year-old Australian who is the youngest player in the tournament, also finished with a 1-2 record but he could advance because he beat Sampras.
Safin, who beat Sampras soundly in three sets in the final of the U.S. Open, could be the first non-American since Sweden’s Stefan Edberg in 1991 to finish the year at No. 1.
Agassi is 2-0 after beating Kafelnikov, the Olympic champion from Sydney.
“It was certainly the best I’ve played in a long time,” Agassi said. “My game started really firing on all cylinders today.”
Kafelnikov fell to 1-1 after losing his 100th singles match of the year.
Hewitt demolished Corretja in three sets at the Australian Open, losing only one game. It was the Australian’s first loss against Corretja in three matches. The two will face each other again next week in the Davis Cup final in Spain. Kuerten fired his 15th ace to win the match against Norman, the Swede who also lost to the Brazilian in the French Open final.
A hamstring strain has been bothering Kuerten but he didn’t let the injury slow him.
“It still hurts but if I serve like this, I can beat the guys,” he said.